


Run Boy, Run

by GhostiesandGhoulies



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Battle, Blood and Injury, Canon Era, Canon-Typical Violence, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Female Hange Zoë, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin) Swears, Major Character Injury, Some Humor, Some OOCness, Survival, Titans (Shingeki no Kyojin), Wilderness Survival
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-06
Updated: 2016-06-06
Packaged: 2018-07-12 17:52:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7116556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GhostiesandGhoulies/pseuds/GhostiesandGhoulies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Inspired by the same titled song by Woodkid.</p><p>In order to save Eren from execution, a plan is made to get him outside the walls. The plan? Levi and Eren must survive outside the walls in titan territory until preventative action can be made. Now they just have to make it through to that point.</p><p>Rated because I'm paranoid. :)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Run Boy, Run

**Author's Note:**

> I honestly haven't a clue how long this story will be, my initial thought is like five chapters max? It was an idea that just kept developing so I decided to just go ahead and post this first chapter since I've had it written for months now.  
> Another note I should make is that it seems to be greatly disputed how long it would take to traverse through the walls. So, I kind of just made up my own idea that with constant travel it can be accomplished in a day. Sorry if that is not your cup of tea, but I needed that to be so for this fic to work.  
> Definitely recommend checking out the song by Woodkid - it really sets the mood for this fic. Plus it's just a great song.  
> Also since the later details aren't completely worked out, I'll add warnings as I go.

It seemed like he had just finally fallen into an unsteady sleep when he was being shaken awake roughly. His eyes sprang open to find none other than Corporal Levi standing at his bedside, dressed in complete uniform - gear and all.

"Get your ass out of bed and dressed, Jaeger," he barked, "we leave in five."

The chains that had been on his wrists were gone. He sat up uncertainly, eyeing the pile of clothing beside him. He did as ordered and dressed quickly. It was routine by then, clicking all of his belts into place. He finished by sliding on his jacket and cloak. His superior's tone had made it painfully clear that questions weren't the best of ideas. His boots clicked against the stone floor as he emerged from his unlocked cell.

Green eyes widened as they took in the unconscious forms of the posted guards.

Levi reemerged from the dark hallway with a satisfied look on his face, "Glad you can still follow orders; now hurry up. The horses have arrived. We need to leave, now."

Eren followed wordlessly, questions burning in his mind. His execution was to be at dawn. Which, from the small amount of light emerging on the horizon, wasn't far off. Levi was breaking the law by freeing him - and that wouldn't be seen as a small offense, no matter how important he was to the military.

As they were striding to wherever the horses were, Hanji came up on their flank. "Everything is still under control, the guards in the area should be out for another hour or so. But once you get out of Wall Sina, things will become a lot more difficult. You will have one shot at this, Levi. Miss your opportunity and-"

"Shut your mouth, woman," the shorter man bit out. "I know what I'm doing, there's always the secondary plan if things don't go as they should."

More questions flooded his mind at their talk.

Hanji turned to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, "I'm going to miss you, my little titan. You've been a privilege to work with. Maybe once things blow over we can meet up. Time will tell." The scientist surprised him by planting a kiss on his forehead, "Take care of yourself - and shorty over there."

"Shitty glasses," he shot back.

She gave a tired grin as they reached the horses. The brunette brought Levi in for a short hug; surprisingly he didn't put up too much of a fight against it. "Be safe, you lunatic," she murmured, "fly with your wings of freedom."

The Corporal clambered onto his horse and scoffed, "Don't be so fucking cheesy about it. We'll be fine. We're not as careless as you might think."

Erwin came up then. "It's been an honor, maybe one day we may meet again. The Survey Corps will always have a place for you both."

Eren began wondering just how many members of the Survey Corps were involved in this sudden escape plan. He feared for their safety if someone found out about their involvement.

"Have all the traps been laid out?" Levi asked curtly.

A nod, "Yes. Anyone who investigates the situation won't be able to prove that anyone besides you was involved in his escape."

"Good." Those sharp eyes turned to him, "Let's go, Eren." He spurred on his horse shortly after.

Eren tossed one more look at his two superiors who saluted to him. He bit his lip as he too spurred on his horse to catch up with Levi. Once he had, they had their horses speed up to a gallop. As he rode, he noted that the horses they were using were trained for outside the wall as they didn't tire easily.

It seemed like a short time after, but had actually been hours, that they reached the first gate in their path. They were leaving Wall Sina. The shifter was amazed to find the gate already opened for them. A quick glance upwards revealed two figures in the easily identifiable green Survey Corps cloaks. Their horses galloped through without hesitance and continued onwards. In a small town just outside of Sina and the capital, they picked up new horses and continued on in a gallop.

The question needed to be answered. "Sir! Where are we going?!" He was practically shouting over the sound of the wind rushing past them.

Levi spared him a momentary glance, "Outside the walls - that's the only place they won't try to come and kill you, after all!"

His heart sped up a bit. _Outside_ the walls? Would they even be able to survive outside the walls?

"Once we get past Wall Rose, we'll meet up with a convoy that will give us all the supplies that have been gathered for us. From there, we will chart onwards into titan territory," the Corporal continued. "We've been anticipating this for awhile, Jaeger, at least trust us to be prepared when shit hits the fan."

He did trust them. But that didn't mean he wasn't scared for the results of their actions in helping him. His heartbeat pounded in his ears as they raced through Wall Rose. His eyes scanned rooftops, expecting at any moment for someone to jump out and stop them. Vaguely he wondered if the Corporal was feeling any of what he was.

The sun was well past the midday marker by the time they neared the gate of Trost. As they bolted through the city, there came shouts from all around, most ordering for them to halt. Eren looked frantically to his superior who bore a look of irritation. Levi seemed to notice his gaze and hardened his expression.

"Push forward - we stop for no one."

Honestly, at that point, he didn't want to stop in fear of what consequences there would be - especially for the Corporal. Absently he pulled his cloak on tighter, eyes scanning the nearby rooftops for any of the Garrison.

They were nearing the gate, the large expanse of wall stretched out before them ominously.

Levi suddenly slowed his horse a bit, "Shit! This is going to get rough, Jaeger, be ready!"

Eren gulped as he laid eyes on the human barricade that was positioned in front of the gate. The Garrison had gathered in an attempt to stop them.

Then there came a roar and a group of green cloaked soldiers leaped towards the Wall Rose guard. Immediately after there came the sounds of clashing weaponry and dull thuds. The Survey Corps had come to their aid.

"Idiots," the raven muttered, "going to get themselves arrested.. Brat!"

He snapped his eyes over to his superior obediently, "S-Sir!?"

Those gray eyes were piercing as they peered over at him, "We navigate through this mess! Don't stop or I will fucking end you, got it?!"

Words failed him, so he nodded in response. He took a tighter hold of the reins, readying himself for anything.

Levi's dark steed picked up its pace once more so that he was riding directly in front of him. The shorter man yanked his hood onto his head as they neared the large cloud of dust at the base of the wall.

As soon as they entered the plume, seeing things became infinitely more difficult. They did their best to avoid running over anyone, much to the agitation of their horses.

_"CLOSE THE GATE! THEY'RE GOING TO GET THROUGH!"_

Eren could hardly hear anything over the thundering of his own heartbeat. His horse vaulted over something, throwing him off a bit. He was quick to right himself, afraid he might fall off. Then suddenly, he realized that they were rushing under the gate that was sliding shut over them.

They made it through with seconds to spare. Levi halted his horse after they were a good 15 meters away from the wall. Eren followed. The two took a moment to stare back at the walls - they place they had called home for so long. They were in titan territory now.

"Come on, Eren," the corporal spoke after a time, "we need to rendezvous with the supply cart." He slowly urged his horse into a canter.

The brunette's eyes filled with bitter tears as he too started off, trailing a bit behind his superior.

Levi and Eren traveled wordlessly until they reached the meet up point. Sure enough, there were three green cloaked figures sitting on a wagon beneath some trees. They dismounted nearby and walked up to the trio.

Two of the three hopped off and immediately removed their hoods. Eren couldn't stop himself from rushing forward to them as they did.

Armin and Mikasa were quick to reciprocate, bringing him in for a joint embrace.

"I'm so glad you're okay," Armin exclaimed. He smiled to their superior, "It's good to see you're both intact. Did you face any opposition?"

The raven haired man nodded to him, returning his greeting.

"A bit," Eren answered, "but we made it through." His brow furrowed as he looked imploringly to his two best friends, "But how will you get back in undetected? The guards will be on high alert."

"Hanji discovered an access tunnel," the third figure replied. They stood and removed their hood.

"Jean..."

He crossed his arms, "We'll be able to get back in without attracting attention. The only ones that will be in any kind of trouble will be you two."

Their commanding officer scoffed then, "Us and the idiots who fought the blockade we met in Trost."

"That must've been Connie and the others," Armin sighed, "they said they would be ready for such a thing, but we didn't think they'd actually do it."

Levi turned his back and looked towards the walls, "They're all fools... but they certainly aided in our escape."

Eren spared the other a small smile, "Yeah. Hopefully they don't get in too much trouble on our behalf."

"I'm sure the Commander will be able to have them pardoned with time," the blonde said with confidence. He shuffled uncomfortably then, "It might take longer for you two..."

The titan shifter gave a light chuckle, "Whatever happens, happens. We'll be alright until then."

Mikasa surged forward and brought her brother in for another hug, "Be careful out there, Eren. Come back alive."

He accepted the embrace wordlessly, not missing the way her shoulders were trembling.

"We should head back," Jean spoke up albeit reluctantly, "it'll take us a couple of hours to get back unnoticed."

Armin gave a brief salute to them, "Whatever happens, know the spirit of the Survey Corps is with you."

With a glare, Mikasa faced Levi, "Take care of him, shorty."

"Shut up, Ackerman," came the bored retort.

Jean whacked Eren in the head with a smirk, "Try not to be too suicidal out there, bastard."

Eren's face screwed up with distaste, "Speak for yourself, horseface."

During the farewells, Levi had situated himself up in the cart. He took up the reins and stirred the horses from their light grazing. "Come on, Jaeger," he called, "we need to go now."

With one last longing glance at his friends, he scaled the cart into the seat alongside his superior. He didn't break his gaze until the three were mere specks in the distance.

The Corporal noticed him still looking and gave a small sigh, "Take a good long look, kid. We won't be back in these walls for awhile."

A strong twinge of sadness struck the younger at those words.

 

Their ride continued in silence for a long while. The sun was getting low in the sky which meant they could travel easier. It was some kind of blessing that they had come upon no titan opposition thus far. Perhaps the gods were smiling upon their escape.

Levi would constantly scan the horizon in search of any of the monstrous creatures. He was ready for an attack at any time.

Eren was subdued in his seat beside the shorter male. He still had so many questions but he was afraid to ask them.

"Are you taking a shit over their, kid?"

He jumped at the sudden interaction. "N-No sir," he managed.

His companion scoffed, "Could've fooled me. I'm sure you have questions, so why don't you just fucking ask them?"

"I... I didn't want to be a bother," Eren admitted quietly.

The raven glanced over at him only momentarily, "It's more of a bother if you stay silent when you obviously want answers. The rules within the walls don't apply out here either - so no need to be so damn uptight."

He was silent for awhile, considering this. His hands clasped together loosely in his lap as he attempted to figure out which question to ask first.

Beside him, Levi gave a sigh. "This operation has been planned since you gained the ability to fully control your titan abilities. Hanji believed that eventually something might go amiss and so we should be ready to prevent your execution. That damned shitty glasses made a good call, she has had everything worked out for months."

Eren listened intently, figuring several other questions he had would be answered with the explanation his superior was giving him. Finally.

"It was decided that I would be the one to accompany your reckless ass outside the walls because someone needed to keep you in line and made sure you didn't die," he continued, eyes still searching the horizon. "Shitty glasses came up with a list of supplies that, theoretically, should last us a solid two months. We have 30 spare gas canisters and one hundred spare blades besides what is already in our gear. We have to make everything count or we're fucked."

He waited to see if the other would continue, when he didn't, he began asking his questions. 

"Where are we headed?"

The Corporal shook his head lightly, "Hell if I know. Apparently there are various abandoned establishments we might be able to find shelter in. If not, I guess we're going to have to get creative."

Mentally he couldn't help but beg to whatever deity that might be listening, to allow them to find an intact shelter. He remembered that Armin had once told him that people hadn't always lived within the walls. Before them, true freedom had been had... and then the titans had taken that from them.

He ran a hand through his hair anxiously, "What will happen to those in the Survey Corps? Will they be apprehended for aiding in our escape?"

Levi rolled his eyes, "The dumb shits that showed up at that last gate will probably get punished in some way. Otherwise it will look as though we acted alone. Hanji might be a shit for brains, but this strategy was near flawless in terms of covering everyone's asses. With the exception of the aforementioned idiots."

"And what about us?" Eren asked, "What happens to us?"

"Our names will be marked with high treason for at least two years, and then Erwin might be able to make an appeal that will allow our return. If not then, the wait would then become five to eight years. In an extreme case, he might be able to do so within ten months."

He gaped at his senior officer in shock. "W-Will we even be able to last that long..?"

Levi was quiet for a bit. "Guess we will see, kid," was his only reply.

Their situation was already looking to be quite the miserable affair. Eren could only hope that with the Corporal's guidance, they might be able to hold out. He knew he couldn't expect the impossible reassurance that they would be able, but how he wished for it.

**Author's Note:**

> Tell me your thoughts! Apologies for any missed typos.
> 
> ~Ghosties


End file.
